Fourteen people missing as Tanzania-registered plane crashes off Comoro

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | Xinhua | Fourteen people have been reported missing after a light aircraft registered in Tanzania and owned by a firm based in Zanzibar crashed off the Comoros Saturday.

Tanzania’s local media reported Monday that the 14 people went missing after a Cessna Caravan crashed into the Indian Ocean while it was flying in the Islands nation.

Mohammed Mazrui, whose firm — Fly Zanzibar Limited — owns the fateful aircraft, said the aircraft was leased to a Comorian carrier and was flying from the capital of Moroni to the city of Fomboni when the accident occurred.

The aircraft had 12 passengers and two crew on board, with the Comorian government saying all the passengers were Comorian and the two pilots were Tanzanian.

The plane disappeared from radar about 2.5 km from its destination, with the cause of the accident still unknown, said Mazrui.

The Comorian transport ministry said debris believed to be of the aircraft had been found, adding that an operation was being conducted to recover the debris from the ocean.

Senior police officer Abdel-Kader Mohamed told the media in Moroni that three speedboats had been sent to the crash site to search for survivors and collect debris and items belonging to passengers.